First Time Makin' Bacon

Awesome looking bacon!

I have 21.5 pounds of belly curing right now myself... Xmas gifts. One of my cures is Chipotle Honey...along with some ancho chili powder:

Sean "Puffy" Coals said:

All you bacon pros out there: Is it better to season your bacon during the cure using dry chile powders or during the smoke with a mop? Also, when you rinse off the cure, how thorough should you be? I was pretty thorough and got off most of the seasonings and spices- I think this may have resulted in a weakened flavor. Or, maybe it was the extra day of soaking. Or both?

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Excellent question...and one I'm searching for the answer myself.

This is my 2nd attempt at chipotle/honey bacon. My first attempt was good...but not as spicy as I'd like. The thing is, it tasted great on the taste test (prior to soaking)...but a bit too salty. So I soaked. The saltiness was reduced to a good level, but the chiptole flavor was also reduced to where it wasn't strong enough.

I think it comes down to being careful with how much salt you use to begin with. I'm not going to soak the chipotle-cured bellies this time to see what happens. I also added some dried spices this time to kick it up some more...the ancho and dried chiptole pepper (along with the chipotle in adobo)...

I'll let you know how it goes....it's all trial and error!

Sean "Puffy" Coals said:

All you bacon pros out there: Is it better to season your bacon during the cure using dry chile powders or during the smoke with a mop? Also, when you rinse off the cure, how thorough should you be? I was pretty thorough and got off most of the seasonings and spices- I think this may have resulted in a weakened flavor. Or, maybe it was the extra day of soaking. Or both?

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Your question was timely...I emailed Michael Ruhlman about the same thing...he responded this morning...

His response was brief but to the point..."only soak if too salty".

So...I guess if you are wanting spice...add enough during the cure (that is trial and error)...and be careful with the salt. Try to get it where soaking won't be necessary. I personally hate the idea of a belly getting all happy in chiptole and ancho for 6-7 days...only to wash it all (or much of it) away later.

The cure and excess salt should be rinsed off well. The extra seasoning will flavor the bacon surface but won't penetrate like the cure. You will want to re-season prior to smoking to get the pepper/spice/whatever flavor on the outside of the bacon. YMMV!

My son salt/sugar cures (no Cure #1) with herbs. He likes the results but, since he does not use pink salt, he hot smokes his bacon after the 10 days of cure. He rinses and then re-seasons with the herbs.

I do all my flavoring with the curing process. All I add when smoking is cracked black pepper all over the surface.

Nice looking bacon there! :clap2: It's been a while since I've gotten bellies to cure and I've been using store bought bacon, which, no matter how good it is, doesn't ever seem to match home-made.

I recieved another response from Ruhlman...

Put the desired flavors in the cure....and yes, soaking will take some of those flavors away...so again, it a comes down to using the correct amount of salt for the cure (so you don't have to soak).

gtr said:

I do all my flavoring with the curing process. All I add when smoking is cracked black pepper all over the surface.

Nice looking bacon there! :clap2: It's been a while since I've gotten bellies to cure and I've been using store bought bacon, which, no matter how good it is, doesn't ever seem to match home-made.

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I've never added anything post-cure...except smoke...do you think the pepper makes a big difference at that point?

I've wondered if I should add anything post-cure....I just never have.

Has anyone had luck making Canadian Bacon? I have a shoulder roast in the freezer that I would like to try making Canadian Bacon. Any help will be appreciated.